Sanding belt cleaner



R. T. PRouLX 3,085,268

SANDING BELT CLEANER A ril 16, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1961 April 16, 1963 R. T. PROULX 3, 8

SANDING BELT CLEANER Filed May 26, 1961 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Unitc .5: States Patent masses SANDING BELT CLEANER Romeo T. Proulx, 73 Deauville Road, Amityville, N.Y. Filed May 26, 1961, Ser. No. 123,334 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-21) This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning endless sanding belts, and more particularly to an apparatus having means adapted to continuously scrub a moving solvent-soaked sanding belt.

The industrial sanding belt used in machine shops is a relatively expensive article of manufacture in as much as its dimensions were of relatively large size. Endless sanding belts having a peripheral length of, for example, ten feet were generally too expensive to throw away after use in grinding off greasy metal objects so that efforts to salvage the (grit and grease clogged belts were made.

The conventional method used was to scrub the used clogged belts by hand using trichlorethylene as a solvent. Clearly such crude hand cleaning procedures were hazardous to the cleaner as well as expensive in that they were excessively time consuming. Nor were the results of hand cleaning satisfactory in that the belt was not cleaned uniformly throughout its entire area.

It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for cleaning grime and grit clogged continuous sanding belts uniformly, rapidly and inexpensively.

It is a further object to provide an apparatus adapted for rapid insertion of grimy belts and removal of the cleaned belt.

It is another object to provide an apparatus adapted to receive endless belts of various sizes and adapted further for taking up slack of old belts which are stretched by continued use.

It is another object to provide means for soaking the grimy clogged belt with a solvent for a suitable time interval prior to brush scrubbing the belt so that suitably soaked areas of the belt are subjected to a scrubbing action.

It is yet another object to provide means for adjusting the pressure between the scrubbing brushes and the belt.

These and other advantages and objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure of an illustrative embodiment of this invention shown in the accompanying drawing and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the cleaning apparatus showing a pair of adjustably spaced-apart cylinders, the lower cylinder being disposed in a tank of cleaning solvent, and showing in dotted outline a sanding belt and its direction of travel,

FIG. 2 is a front or loading end view of the pair of spaced-apart rollers showing the rollers in a converging position brought about by the use of an adjustable hanger bar suspending the free end of the bottom roller, and showing further the manner of supporting the free end of the top roller, to permit insertion and removal of a continuous belt in relationship to said rollers,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the rollers of FIG. 2, showing the foreshortened distance between the axis of the rollers rat the front end to facilitate a sliding insertion of the belt thereover,

FIG. 4 is a view of the front, top and bottom bearing supports and bearings thereon, as removed from the apparatus frame, to permit the cylinders to receive an endless belt,

FIG. 5 is a broken away side of the top cylinder and showing the manner of engaging the cylinder for rotation by the use of a hand crank,

FIG. 6 is a detail view, in section, showing the manner ice of engagement between the brushes and the belt and between the belt and the solvent, and

FIG. 7 is a detail view, showing the manner of locating the brushes when inserting and removing a belt from the pair of rollers.

Turning now to the drawing and particularly to FIG. 1, a rectangular frame 10 made of conventional angle iron is provided with parallel vertically disposed support bars 11, 12, 13 and 14. The rear bars 11 and 12 have their angle irons facing the front bars 13 and 14 so that all the right angles of the bars face inwardly. A top bracing of angle iron bars 15, 16, 17 and 18 are provided. Also a bottom bracing of angle irons 19', 20, 21 and 22 are provided (FIGS. 1 and 7). The vertical supports 11, 12, 13 and 14 are preferably welded together to produce the rectangular frame 10.

The front support bars 13 and 14 are each provided with conventional analogous suitably curved catch bars 23 and 24 disposed in equal spaced relationship to the bottom of the respective support bars 13- and 14 and welded thereto.

A bottom angle iron bearing support 25 is provided with a conventional universal bearing block 26 and a top angle iron bearing support 27 is provided with a universal bearing block 28 having a hand crank assembly 29 therein (FIG. 4). As also shown in FIG. 4, the portion 30 of the front bottom bearing support 25 and the portion 31 of front top bearing support 27 are suitably foreshortened on each end to permit insertion between the upright or vertical bars 13 and 14.

The bottom angle iron bearing support 25 is further provided with a vertical portion 32 which slides downwardly by gravity against the exterior surface of bars 13 and 14 until caught in the conventional catch bars 23 and 24 in a horizontal relationship.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 the top angle iron bearing support 27 is provided with a vertical portion 33 which also slides against the exterior surface of the respective vertically disposed frame bars 13 and 14. The portion 33 of the top bearing support 27 is provided at each end with a horizontally disposed slot. 34 and 35 of suitable length. A conventional suitably curved clip 36 and 37 is provided for each slot 34 and 35 respectively. The clips 36 and 37 are each provided with suitable screw threaded aperture adapted to mate with the respective slots in the support bar 27. A suitably long bolt 38 is disposed through each slot and into a respective threaded aperture of a respective clip 36 and 37.

p In order to insert and lock the front top bearing support 27 to the frame vertical bars 13 and 14, the clips 36 and 37 are retracted beneath the angle bar portion 31 and the support 27 is then pushed in between the said bars 13 and 14. Next, the clips 36 and 37 are pushed outwardly toward the respective ends of the support portion 33 by pushing the bolts 38 in their respective slots. Accordingly the clips 36 and 37 are disposed on the inside of the exterior walls of the vertical angle iron bars 13 and 14. Upon suitable tightening of the bolts 3-8 the front support bearing is rigidly secured immoveably to the'upright or vertical frame bars 13 and 14 and hence locked thereto.

Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 3 there is shown the manner of securing the top rear bearing support and the bottom rear bearing support to the rear upright frame bars 12 and 11.

Whereas the front bearing supports 25 and 27 are removeable for each insertion or removal of a belt, the bottom rear bearing support 40 and the top rear bearing support 41 are not removeable from the frame 10.

The bottom bearing support 40 is made from conventional angle iron and is disposed suitably between the rear bars 11 and 12, and secured thereto by any suitable conventional means as, for example, by welding or by a pair of threaded bolts disposed in suitable threaded apertures located suitably in the vertical bars 11 and 12 and in the bottom rear angle iron bearing support 40. A conventional universal bearing 4-2 is secured to the angle iron support 40.

T he top rear bearing support 41 is of unique construction and consists of a relatively high plate 43 disposed slidingly on the interior vertical wall surface of the vertical bars 11 and 12 and in suitable close relationship to the co-acting wall of the vertical bars 11 and 12. Such a tall or high plate 43 provides a suitable surface area for securing a conventional flange type universal bearing 44 thereto.

As shown in FIG. 3 plate 43 is in effect an angle iron having an integral lip 45 disposed inwardly into the frame 19. A bar 46 is disposed horizontally on the exterior surface of the vertical bars 11 and 12 and is secured rigidly to plate 43 in suitable spaced apart relationship by a plurality of spacers (not shown) welded to plate 43 and bar 46 and located between the frame bars 11 and 12. A set screw 48 is disposed in a threaded aperture at each end of bar 46 and adapted to engage a respective frame bar 11 or 12. To further provide a suitable sliding carriage for supporting the Weight of an aluminum top roller 49, a T-shaped support bar 50 is welded to the horizontally disposed plate 45 integral with the bearing support plate 43. The T-bar 50 extends suitably into the space of the frame toward the front bars 13 and 14 so as to support the weight of the roller 49 adjacent its front end.

The carriage carrying the roller 49 is also provided with a depending T-shaped bar 51 and an angle-iron bar 52 is welded to the bottom of bar 51 in such a manner as to have its vertical wall engage slidingly the vertical Wall of the frame members 11 and 12. Accordingly the weight of the front top roller 49 when disengaged from its front support bearing and any material secured thereto is transmitted through T-bars 50 and 51 to the horizontal angleiron bar 52 (FIG. 3). p

Turning now to FIG. 6, there is shown the manner of Wetting and scrubbing the solvent soaked belt 53. The tank 54 used to hold the solvent is a rectangular pan adapted to be disposed upon the horizontallyfdisposed lips of the front and rear bars 22 and 20 (FIG. 7) respectively.

The solvent used is preferably kerosene, but an aqueous detergent solution is operable. The vertical bars 12 and 13 ('FIG. 1) are provided with a rotatable cylindrical rod 55 journaled in suitable apertures located in said vertical bars. A pair of stop lugs 56 are welded to each end of the rod 55. A pair of threaded bolts 57 are welded on rod 55 in suitable spaced-apart relationship and in diametrically opposed relationship to lugs 56. A conventional threaded bolt 58 is threaded into the threaded apertures disposed in each of the vertical bars 12 and 13 and adapted to engage a respective lug 56. A locking nut 59 is disposed onto each of the threaded bolts 58 to provide for adjustment to said contacting lug 56 and therefore of the brushes to the belt surface.

A pair of bifurcated claws 60 are welded to a brush holder 61. The brush holder 61 is made from a pair of sheet metal holder elements 62 and '63 each provided with an extending ledge 64 to which the claws 60 are welded. The brush holder elements 62 and 63 are held together by conventional removeable securing means for example, metal screws,

In use the holder 61 is secured to the rod 55 by inserting a respective bolt 57 into a respective channel of a claw 60. The holder 61 is moveable relative to the bolts 57 so that a suitable pressure of the scrub brushes 65 disposed therein is obtained against the belt 53. Adjustment of bolt 58 adjusts the angle of contact between the brushes 65 and the belt 53. As shown in FIG. 6, the belt 53 is rotated in the solvent in tank 54 upwardly around the bottom roller 66, over the top roller 49 (FIG. 1) and down against the brushes 65. The time interval for the belt to travel from the tank 54 over the top roller 49 and down to the brushes permits a suitable soaking of the grease in the belt by the solvent. The brushes 65 disposed in the brush holder 61 are preferably the conventional kitchen type fiber brushes so that a plurality of brushes are disposed in each holder and each is replaced individually as need be when worn out by use.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3 there is shown the manher of supporting the suspended front end of the bottom roller by the front end of the top roller when both the ta and the bottom support bearings with their bars 27 and 25 (-FIG. 4) areremoved from the frame.

To produce this result a telescope hanger 67 is employed, The hanger 67 consists of a bottom flat rod 63 having a suitable aperture at its base to receive the axle 69 of the bottom roller 66 (FIG. 3). The axle 69 may be secured directly to the end of the roller 66 or it may be welded to a plate 70 which in turn is bolted to the end of the roller 66.

The flat rod 68 is provided adjacent its top end with a Wrap around. guide clip 71 Welded thereto and embracing an interiorly disposed flat bar 72. The fiat bar 72 is also provided with a like wrap around guide clip 73 welded to its bottom end. A set screw 74 is threaded into a threaded aperture disposed in clip 71 to permit locking of bar 68 to bar 72 after selectively telescoping one to the other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the interior telescope bar 72 is provided at its top end with a plate 75 having a pair of spaced-apart apertures. A top oversized aperture 76 in plate 75 is provided with opposed lugs 77 disposed on the top axle 78 (FIG. 5). Plate 75 is secured to rod 72 by conventional means such as rivets.

A bottom oversized aperture 76X may be round if desired since it may be hung into the axle 78 exteriorly of the lugs 77 (FIG. 2). Also as shown in FIG. 2, the carriage T-bar 50 is preferably provided with a suitable semi-cylindrical cradle 79 welded to its front end to prevent the top roller 49 from rolling off the T-bar during the loading operation.

The axle 78 of the top roller 49 and axle 69 of the bottom roller 66 preferably run through the respective roller and walls, but as shown in FIG. 2 stubby axles welded to plate pieces which in turn are secured to the roller end walls are also operable.

The rollers 49 and '66 are preferably made of corro- "sion resistant material such as aluminum and each is preferably provided with a rough cylindrical surface in order to effect an increased frictional engagement with the belt 53. The bearings employed for the axles of the rollers are preferably of the universal type.

In the operation of this invention the hanger 67 remains disposed between the rollers '49 and 66 at all times. When a belt 53 is to be removed from the apparatus the front bearing support unit 27 is removed from the frame 10 by loosening the bolts 38 and then retracting the plates 36 and 37. Next the bottom support unit 25 is loosened by loosening the set screws disposed in catch plates 23 and 24. Next axle 78 is inserted into aperture 76X, lifting the front end of the roller 66 and the bearing assembly 25. Next the bearing assembly 25 is removed from its position above lugs 23 and 24. The belt 53 is now easily removed and a new belt inserted thereon because of the conveying relationship of the front ends of rollers 49 and 66 (FIG. 3) with the top roller 49 resting on the front end of T-bar 50 and held thereon by saddle 79.

After the insertion of the belt '53 over the convergent rollers, the bearing support 25 is disposed on axle 69 and lowered into the lugs 23 and 24 with insertion of axle 78 into aperture 76 from aperture 76X. The set screws in the lugs are tightened and assembly 27 is disposed on axle 78. The top bearing support 27 is disposed over axle 78 so that the pair of cut-out channels of the handle unit 29 engage the pair of lugs 77. Next, the bearing support unit 27 is suitably lifted and secured to the frame bars 13 and 14 by means of the plates 37 and 36 and the bolts 38 to effect tautness of belt 53. Turning of the crank handle 80 of the crank handle unit 29 rotates the top roller 49 and due to friction of the tautly held belt 53 on bottom roller 66, the latter is retated also.

As can be seen from the drawing the carriage unit to which the rear bearing unit 44 is attached, can be moved captively up and down on the rear vertical frame bars 11 and 12 by loosening of the set screws 48.

And since the front bearing unit can be freely moved up and down and selectively locked to the front vertical bars 13 and 14, it is clear that endless belts of various sizes up to the height of the vertical bars 11, 12, 13 and 14 may be accommodated in this invention.

This invention was illustrated by an illustrative embodiment but it is of greater scope than this illustration, and is limited only by the claims herein.

I claim:

1. A device for solvent cleaning with scrubbing of endless grime clogged sanding belts comprising a rectangular frame of suitable height and having a front pair of parallel bars and a rear pair of parallel bars; a top rear slidable carriage having a bearing means and an extension holder arm secured thereto and disposed interiorly of said frame; locking means for securing said slide carriage to the rear pair of parallel bars; top front removeable bearing means having a crank handle and axle engagement arm slidably disposed on said front parallel bars; locking slide plate means secured to said top front bearing means for slideably engaging said front bars; removeable bottom front bearing means adapted for slideable engagement with said front parallel bars; and bottom rear bearing means secured to the rear parallel bars; a top roller having axle means disposed rotatably in said top rear and said top front bearing means; a bottom roller having axle means rotatably disposed in said bottom rear and said bottom front bearing means; lug means on said top roller front axle for engagement with said axle engagement arm; a pair of flat slideable bars secured captively together, one of said bars having an aperture for engagement with the bottom roller front axle, the other bar having plate means thereon having a pair of suitably spaced-apart suitable apertures to selectively receive said lug means of said top axle; stationary scrubbing means disposed pivotally and adjustably between said front and said rear parallel bars adjacent the bottom roller and pan means disposed below said bottom roller whereby the belt about said bottom roller dips into solvent in said pan means and is moved upwardly while carrying solvent over said top roller and then downwardly against the scrubbing means. 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the scrubbing means comprises a round bar rotatably journaled in apertures of said front and rear frame bars; a pair of locking studs secured to said round bar; channel means for receiving a plurality of brushes; a pair of bifurcated claws fixedly secured to said channel means and slidingly disposed about said studs whereby brush pressure on the belt adjacent the bottom roller may be selectively adjusted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 764,435 Donaldson et a1 July 5, 1904 1,061,157 Bemis May 6, 1913 1,621,706 Alexander et al. Mar. 22, 1927 1,858,437 iDuiford May 17, 1932 2,171,631 Moncrieff et al Sept. 5, 1939 2,423,737 Tavano July 8, 1947 2,467,690 Parkinson Apr. 19, 1949 2,473,852 Berry June 21, 1949 2,634,221 McAlpine et al Apr. 7, 1953 2,650,603 Howes Sept. 1, 1953 2,688,333 Lorig Sept. 7, 1954 2,982,984 Discipio May 9, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 676,595 Germany July 30, 1952 

1. A DEVICE FOR SOLVENT CLEANING WITH SCRUBBING OF ENDLESS GRIME CLOGGED SANDING BELTS COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR FRAME OF SUITABLE HEIGHT AND HAVING A FRONT PAIR OF PARALLEL BARS AND A REAR PAIR OF PARALLEL BARS; A TOP REAR SLIDABLE CARRIAGE HAVING A BEARING MEANS AND AN EXTENSION HOLDER ARM SECURED THERETO AND DISPOSED INTERIORLY OF SAID FRAME; LOCKING MEANS FOR SECURING SAID SLIDE CARRIAGE TO THE REAR PAIR OF PARALLEL BARS; TOP FRONT REMOVEABLE BEARING MEANS HAVING A CRANK HANDLE AND AXLE ENGAGEMENT ARM SLIDABLY DISPOSED ON SAID FRONT PARALLEL BARS; LOCKING SLIDE PLATE MEANS SECURED TO SAID TOP FRONT BEARING MEANS FOR SLIDEABLY ENGAGING SAID FRONT BARS; REMOVEABLE BOTTOM FRONT BEARING MEANS ADAPTED FOR SLIDEABLE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FRONT PARALLEL BARS; AND BOTTOM REAR BEARING MEANS SECURED TO THE REAR PARALLEL BARS; A TOP ROLLER HAVING AXLE MEANS DISPOSED ROTATABLY IN SAID TOP REAR AND SAID TOP FRONT BEARING MEANS; A BOTTOM ROLLER HAVING AXLE MEANS ROTATABLY DISPOSED IN SAID BOTTOM REAR AND SAID BOTTOM FRONT BEARING MEANS; LUG MEANS ON SAID TOP ROLLER FRONT AXLE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID AXLE ENGAGEMENT ARM; A PAIR OF FLAT SLIDEABLE BARS SECURED CAPTIVELY TOGETHER, ONE OF SAID BARS HAVING AN APERTURE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOTTOM ROLLER FRONT AXLE, THE OTHER BAR HAVING PLATE MEANS THEREON HAVING A PAIR OF SUITABLY SPACED-APART SUITABLE APERTURES TO SELECTIVELY RECEIVE SAID LUG MEANS OF SAID TOP AXLE; STATIONARY SCRUBBING MEANS DISPOSED PIVOTALLY AND ADJUSTABLY BETWEEN SAID FRONT AND SAID REAR PARALLEL BARS ADJACENT THE BOTTOM ROLLER AND PAN MEANS DISPOSED BELOW SAID BOTTOM ROLLER WHEREBY THE BELT ABOUT SAID BOTTOM ROLLER DIPS INTO SOLVENT IN SAID PAN MEANS AND IS MOVED UPWARDLY WHILE CARRYING SOLVENT OVER SAID TOP ROLLER AND THEN DOWNWARDLY AGAINST THE SCRUBBING MEANS. 